Mitamas: After The End
by Scandalous Behavior
Summary: New Aragami uprising, new characters of old favorites and lots of plot...
1. The Finding

AN: Thought I'd redo the beginning of the story. The next chapter will have what I started out with so if you read it that's okay it's still part of the story. The years change so be on the lookout. Later chapters have R to NC-17 rating.   
  
Mitamas: After The End   
Prologue: The Finding   
  
Written by: Scandalous Behavior   
  
~ ~ ~ ~   
  
Momiji Fujimiya shivered at the cold feeling that enveloped her body as she entered the cave. What had driven her back to Izumo, to the iwatto, and then to the cave where she currently stood at the entrance of, she couldn't explain. Having woken up in bed, turning to her husband Mamoru Kusanagi who instantly became awake as if the two of them were linked even deeper than just that link of being husband and wife, she had a feeling so ingrained in her mind that she instinctively knew where to look. So they called the rest of the TAC, that wasn't out of the country at the moment, and went to Izumo.   
  
During the drive, she held her daughter, the sleeping three-year-old who was the miniature of Momiji with the soft chestnut-brown hair with closed jewel-green eyes that always seemed to take everything in. Behind her sat her rebellious eleven-year-old son, his own green eyes narrowed and intent as he stared out the window as to ask why he was being dragged into this search. Beside him was ten year old Keizo Yaegashi, Kome and Yoshiki's eldest son, whose head kept falling backwards onto the seat as he tried unsuccessfully to keep his own brown eyes open. Then to the left of the spiked red head was the eldest of the kids, Toyoharu Kunikida at fifteen wide awake with his blue eyes searching over papers his father had given him when Momiji picked him up at the house, his blue-black hair bangs falling into his eyes. Turning her glaze to her husband, his hands firmly on the wheel she had laughed earlier when he grumbled under his breath about how had they got stuck with the kids. She only kissed him on his lips softly and whispered that would he rather they ride with Kome, and after he shuttered he agreed that the boys should ride with them.   
  
After climbing the stairs to the iwatto, she stared down into the cave that had seemed like she hadn't been there in forever. Remembering purifying herself in the spring at age fifteen and then having ran down the stairs and path to discover a very intense Kusanagi saying that he had to kill her, and the whole start of her being known as Princess Kushinada seemed like millions of years ago. A sound had caught her attention as she stood just inside the iwatto, that seemed to be coming from a different part of the cave and as her over-protective husband warned her to stay behind him she did as she always had and gone to find out what it was.   
  
Thinking to the heart-breaking sound of when Shunichi Sugishita had called two weeks ago, after returning to Tokyo from New York with his daughter to find that next morning she was gone without a trace to who had taken her. Having it hit so close to home, to the whole group that was one big extended family, made all of them put aside whatever project they had been working on to think of who or what might have taken the girl. The apartment where they lived was attest to how much Shunichi loved his only child, whose art work, pictures, and items of treasure that only a child could fill a house with was present everywhere. Maybe it was a mistake for her to have involved her son, Masuki, in it by bringing him along but for some reason she had a feeling that he needed to be a part of it. Her instinct hit home when he stood in the doorway of the young girl's bedroom and then picked up a sea-shelled decorated picture frame of the girl. Her hair was a couple shades lighter blond than Shunichi's light brown-blond and her eyes although blue had hints of mahogany in them, she was adorable and Momiji thought how much she would be devastated if something happened to either one of her own children. Masuki had seemed mesmerized by the picture of the younger girl, who was only a year younger than him, and he had turned to Momiji with a concerned look on his youthful face.   
  
"You are going to save her." was the words that he said, stating that fact rather than questioning if she would find the girl.   
  
Smiling, she placed a hand on his shoulder and nodded.   
  
"Of course, I will, Masuki."   
  
Now she was in the cavern where she had heard that noise, almost a sniffle, coming from a cave connected to the iwatto and then it became like a clear vision in her head to just where the girl was. Running down the stone steps, she kept her balance by touching the cold, water-soaked stone wall and then turning, searching, reaching out for any sort of notion that would bring her to whatever seemed to be calling for her.   
  
Finally she was in the middle of a waterfall spring, the water reflecting by the light that was coming from gaps high above in the cavern's ceiling. A splash echoed off the walls, and then Momiji held back a scream of seeing the horrible picture in front of her.   
  
In front of her was the little girl, whose body was limp and seeing to be pale as a ghost, laying against the side of the waterfall pool with blood reddening the water around her. The blood when it came in contact as it fell to the stone floor and then made a stream down to the water, boiled as the blood and water mixed. A whimper sounded and then running footsteps as Momiji felt the swift movement of air as Kusanagi was behind her followed by Kome, Yaegashi, Ryoko Kunikida and Shunichi Sugishita. Then, unknown to everyone, two pairs of young eyes watched from behind a boulder. Masuki and Keizo had followed them down determined to see what was going on.   
  
Shunichi called out to his daughter, but both Ryoko and Kusanagi held him from going to the girl as a light that was not coming from the descending sunlight filled the room to almost blinding bright and then appearing next to the girl was a woman. The woman appeared to be young with the light surrounding her form and then that of the girl, as she laid a hand under the girl's back and lifted her into her arms. Touching the girl's body, the little girl jerked and then came a small whimper as the wound that came from the girl's chest disappeared and the girl was breathing normally.   
  
Momiji moved towards it, although Kusanagi's watchful cat-eyes kept a close eye on it should anything come to harm his wife.   
  
"Tell me why you have helped her, please, what hurt her and who are you?" Momiji spoke softly and saw the woman stand, to Momiji's surprise she saw the purple mitama that once she had seen on Susano-oh, was on the woman's right hand.   
  
The gentle look that enter the white eyes of the woman caused Momiji to smile sensing that this woman caused no harm to the girl and had a genuine good intention towards them all. A hand reached out that Kusanagi only looked worried at his wife, but Momiji took the hand and felt a power fill her body until she was talking with her mind to the other woman rather than with her mouth.   
  
'Can you hear me, Princess Kushinada?'   
  
'Yes. Who are you?'   
  
'I am what I am. I am called Amaterasu.'   
  
'Lord Susano-oh's sister?'   
  
'Yes. Listen now, Princess Kushinada, for the time for me to say this is short. You must protect this girl, powers beyond that of my or my brother's control have come to kill her as they would kill you and your daughter. She is more than she seems and I ask you to do this would that I had the power I would do it myself.'   
  
'A new power? But the Aragami have been sleeping for over ten years now.'   
  
'This power is Aragami and yet it is not. Do this, Princess Kushinada, as only you and yours can protect the girl from them, as she will protect you.'   
  
'Can't you tell me who is doing this? Are they the ones that took her from her room?'   
  
A sad smile came over Amaterasu's face.   
  
'No. Please tell her father that I am sorry that I took her from her room, as I know it grieved him so. I did it to protect her but they still found her and tried to kill her even in this sacred place.'   
  
'I will tell him but please why this girl?'   
  
'She is the savior, as a Princess Kushinada you have been one as well only her power is helped by that of the new Kushinada.'   
  
'Kimiko.'   
  
'Your daughter will be a big part in her life, as will this girl in your children's lives. Be watchful and look after her, Princess Kushinada.'   
  
With that the connection was broken, as the spell that seemed to keep Momiji in a trace dissipated and as Masuki watched the girl moved, Keizo nodded to her and they both went over to the girl even as the spirit of the Sun Goddess still left its essence. Masuki could have sworn he heard her speak to him and as he saw her fading she repeated it to his ears alone.   
  
'She will save you, young warrior. Watch and protect those you love.'   
  
Shaking it off, he and Keizo moved to the girl as Shunichi saw his daughter's eyes open and blink at the two boys then look to him, as Kusanagi caught Momiji as she collapsed from the draining connection between herself and the Goddess. Kome scolded Momiji as Yaegashi went to Shunichi, who know held his daughter in his arms knelt on the stone floor that had dried blood on the surface as well as it encrusted into the girl's clothes.   
  
"Daddy?" the weak voice of the girl came and Shunichi almost cried with relief that she was alive.   
  
"Oh, god, sweetheart," he held her gently to him, "I love you so much, Shanna."   
  
"I feel," she moved her hand to her forehead the hand covered in red, "tired."   
  
Momiji woke up and saw Ryoko and Yaegashi testing the girl's pulse.   
  
"I'm sure you do, you are a very brave little girl, Shanna." Ryoko Kunikida told her.   
  
"Didn't I tell you to stay at the car?" Kusanagi demanded from his son and Keizo, with Kome having a full support of the scolding to the boys as her son looked to her when the group was moving out of the cavern.   
  
"But Dad.." Masuki started only to have his father's eyes narrow at him.   
  
"Don't, Masuki. Whatever excuse you have come up with I don't want to hear it. You both disobeyed me and your mother, we'll discuss it at home."   
  
Masuki kicked at the ground as they were now down the stairs leaving the iwatto and to the Fujimiya family home, where Shunichi put his daughter in Momiji's old home of the traditional Japanese house. Moe and Grandmother looked after the young girl as Momiji went to where her daughter was left to sleep in one of the spare bedrooms, a studying Toyoharu going over research with Azusa Matsudaira in the next room along with Azusa's son twenty-two year old Jun.   
  
Watching the little girl, eyes closed in deep sleep with her chest moving in the even breathing pattern, Momiji sighed and hugged her arms around herself. Feeling arms circle her waist she leaned against the strong chest of the only man she ever loved.   
  
"Are you going to tell me what she said?" he asked.   
  
"I don't even understand it myself," Momiji looked over her shoulder at him before returning her head to the direction their daughter slept in, "I just know that Shunichi's daughter is very important and we have to protect her."   
  
"Shunichi's daughter is that important, huh? Who would have thought?" Kusanagi mused.   
  
"Did he ever tell you who Shanna's mother was?" Momiji asked, concerned.   
  
"No," Kusanagi turned her in his arms so that her face looked into his, "but I have a feeling that one day my suspicion will be confirmed about who she is," seeing the question raising into his wife's always curious eyes, he add, "how about I watch Kimiko and you go talk to Masuki."   
  
Momiji kissed his mouth, lingering on it as she felt his breath mingle with her own before she pulled gently out of his arms.   
  
"You weren't harsh on him, were you?"   
  
"He's growing up, Momiji. He needs to learn that he can't just do what he wants, when he wants."   
  
"And I'm not saying that I don't agree, its just Masuki always feels left out of things. With Kimiko now the Princess Kushinada and how much attention she gets all the time, with me traveling to help Daitetsu and then with your time divided between Kimiko and him I sometimes get the feeling that he needs more than to be kept in the dark about what it is we do."   
  
"He's only a kid, Momiji, and soon he'll be a teenager," Kusanagi almost shuddered at the thought, "he needs to learn responsibility."   
  
"I'll talk to him."   
  
Walking down the hallway, Momiji thought to what Amaterasu said and then walked into the courtyard where she knew Masuki would be. Sure enough, his black head that at certain times caught light and green shone in the depths of its color was bent over one of the old rocks as he leaned against it and kicked the ground with the tip of his sneaker.   
  
"Winning the battle with the dirt?" Momiji inquired.   
  
"It took a while but I think that dirt finally is about to give up," Masuki finished, the private jokes between them that always made them both grin.   
  
"You know your father only wants to make sure you're okay, right?"   
  
Masuki looked to his young mother, hard to believe she was thirty when most the kids at his school's mothers looked alot older and some of his friends thought his mother looked more like his older sister than the woman who had given him life.   
  
"Then why does he act like I can't do anything right? I mean, with me and Keizo going into the cave, we weren't doing anything wrong."   
  
"You might see it that way but to us, your parents, it's really hard to keep focused on what we are doing if we have to worry about you. If whatever attacked Shanna was still in there and got to you, do you know how much that would pain me and your father if you got hurt?"   
  
"I know, I try really I do, Mom. But I want to help, to be apart of it."   
  
"I understand, honey, I was just like you are your age always wanting to be involved in everything going on around me," Momiji laughed, "sometimes I was so willing to help that I took over what I was trying to help. Give it time, you are still young and I am sure that when you're a little older Daitetsu and the others would love to have you on the TAC. Till then, try to be patient, alright?"   
  
Masuki scowled and then nodded.   
  
"Okay, Mom," Masuki wondered, "is Mr. Sugishita's daughter okay?"   
  
"She lost a lot of blood but she'll be fine."   
  
Masuki's eyes went to the door that was closed with the girl inside.   
  
~ ~ ~   
  
Shunichi Sugishita paced back and forth in his apartment trying to come to the conclusion he knew he would have to come to. It was too hard on Shanna for him to keep moving them when he got new assignments and her schooling was going to start showing the strain. Now with this new situation he considered sending her to her mother, then thought again. Not even her mother could protect her all the time and Shanna was sure to need people around her all the time that could. A week had passed and she was finally getting around without having a dizzy spell or getting tired at any time. As much as he loved his daughter he knew that he couldn't protect her and that only one group could. Her mother wouldn't like it but Shanna was his by full custody and by any right.   
  
Dialing the number he knew by heart, he heard the male voice of Kusanagi.   
  
"I thought it over and I need to talk to Momiji."   
  
~ ~ ~   
  
Waiting in front of the house that they had bought right after marrying almost twelve years ago, Momiji watched for Shunichi's car that was due to come down the private drive any minute now. Masuki wasn't real happy to have another girl in the house but after knowing Shanna for two weeks now he and Keizo had come to include her in their circle. Finding out that Shanna acted and liked alot of what they did helped them not to see her as a girl but as their friend, and with Toyoharu acting as helper to them whenever they had to do something that required older kid membership. Plus Shanna and Kimiko got along, although Kimi wanted more play time than talk time with Shanna.   
  
Shunichi wasn't really happy to have to leave Shanna with Momiji and Kusanagi, giving legal guardianship to them but Momiji knew that he had no choice. He didn't want to endanger his only child's life anymore than it was already and so he was doing what any caring parent did and that was trust someone else to give the child the protection he couldn't. Kusanagi liked the girl, which was a big statement coming from the fact he didn't really care that much for Shunichi. Momiji had spent three days setting up the guestroom into Shanna's new room, that had a joining bathroom with Kimiko's.   
  
Shanna was very artistic, open minded with a sharp wit and was a match for Masuki in that department. Not many people dared go against the razor blade words that Masuki used to get his point across but Shanna had no such doubt of herself and at times left Masuki with the feeling he had just been shot. Keizo liked to keep score on who could insult who more and more often than not the score was equal.   
  
Momiji snapped out of her thoughts and saw the car coming down the driveway, one of the big things that both Momiji and Kusanagi loved about the house was that it was not in Tokyo but not too far away from it, with a private driveway and over ten acres that was all part of their property. As Shunichi parked right in front of the very open designed house with four bedrooms, three 1/2 bath and six other rooms with many windows to let natural light in the house was always a great place to relax. Shanna opened the passenger door of the Explorer and hugged Momiji, who was coming to think of Shanna as another daughter.   
  
"Morning, Momiji!"   
  
"Morning, sunshine. Did you pack everything?"   
  
"Dad said all I was missing was the kitchen sink," Shanna tossed a smile over to her sad faced Dad, who smiled back, "he's being weird. Like why would I want that?" Shanna teased, "can I go see if Masuki is ready for me to be a full time pain to him?"   
  
"Go for it," Momiji laughed, "just knock on his door before you enter."   
  
"Okay."   
  
Shunichi watched his baby girl run into the house and turned to Momiji.   
  
"I promise to protect her, Shunichi. I know how much you love her."   
  
"I know you will, Momiji," Shunichi put on his charming smile, "never hurts to have a beautiful woman around your daughter. Where's Kusanagi?"   
  
Momiji hid her smile as his obvious worried words on if Kusanagi caught him complimenting her.   
  
"Don't worry, he's inside with the kids. You don't have to worry about Kusanagi, he knows we're friends and your daughter is the center of your world."   
  
"That she is," Shunichi winked, "so show me this new Cinderella palace she's moving into."   
  
"Follow me."   
  
Three hours later, Shunichi was saying goodbye to Shanna at the car having to catch a plane to his new assignment in England.   
  
"Be good, mind Momiji and Kusanagi and don't make any trouble." Shunichi told her as he hugged her small form to him.   
  
"She'll just cause trouble." Masuki said under his breath at the blonde's head being turned.   
  
"I heard that, Masuki." Shanna told the older boy.   
  
"I'll be good, Dad. Momiji and Kusanagi are great and I promise not to get caught killing their son," she said and tossed a look to Masuki who glared at her.   
  
"That's my girl. I'll call when I get to England and you have my cell number if you need me?"   
  
"Got it all next to my phone in my room."   
  
"I love you, sweetheart."   
  
"I love you, too, Dad."   
  
Shunichi hugged her once again and then shook Kusanagi's hand and Momiji kissed Shunichi's cheek. Kimiko waved her hand at him as she ran up to Shanna and took the older girl's hand.   
  
~ ~ ~ ~   
  
4 years later.....   
  
Shanna was singing with the music blaring out of her c.d.player as she pulled her hair into the signature hairstyle she had been wearing for two years. Her ponytail was her hair braided into the ponytail holder along with the hair of the actual ponytail divided into three separate braids with blue bands at the end of each. It was simple but took a little bit to get done in the morning. Coming out of the bathroom to the powder blue and white bedroom she had glanced around for the present she had bought and found it sitting on the floor at the end of her bed covered up by the covers since she hadn't made her bed just yet. Humming to the song, she pulled on her white knee high socks of her school uniform, adjusting the gray skirt that came to just above the knee and her button down white shirt tucked into the skirt with the gray blazer over it with the school emblem on the right chest pocket. Grabbing her bookbag she went down the sun lit stairs to see Momiji and Kusanagi kissing beside the kitchen table, something she was used to and wished.....   
  
Shanna shook her head. Wishing wasn't going to change the facts that he wasn't going to be around anymore. Sure all summer she knew that they would no longer be in the same school but then a month ago to find out he wasn't even going to be in the same country was really starting to mess with her head. God, even Keizo was angry about it and he was one of the most fun loving people she knew. Seeing the two adults pull away like guilty teenagers made Shanna bit her lip to keep a smile off her face. Those two were so in love it sometimes made her wonder if they realized they weren't kids anymore and that their kids thought it funny to see them so intimate.   
  
"Shanna!! I want to go to the park after school!" the demanding cheery voice of Kimiko Kusanagi came as the purple dress clad seven year old ran down the stairs, tripping on the last stair and going head first into Shanna, who was used to it and caught Kimi.   
  
"If you're up to it, kiddo. Your mom might want you to go with her after school," Shanna shot Momiji a look which the adult gratefully nodded to.   
  
"We're going to go visit Grandma and Great-Grandma after school, Kimi," Momiji told the little girl and seeing Kimi's skeptical look added, "and then on to the Ice Cream Parlor."   
  
"Hurrah!"   
  
Kusanagi rolled his eyes at Momiji's way with their youngest. Seeing Shanna give a half-hearted smile at her 'kid sister' he lifted a green eyebrow at the girl.   
  
"Something wrong, Shanna?"   
  
"What?...Oh, nothing. Are we still driving him to the airport?"   
  
In his mind Kusanagi 'ahaed' at having found out that was what was upsetting her.   
  
"Yes, they are." came Masuki's deepened voice, which was causing a large amount of girls to actually stare in appreciation at that husky voice he had gotten over the past summer.   
  
Glancing over her shoulder at the jeans, green T-shirt and lightweight white jacket that contrasted well with his darker complexion of Masuki Kusanagi's body trying not to be one of the many girls that were panting after the guy. But when you lived in the same house as the very cute guy it was hard to keep your eyes in your head.   
  
"Nice outfit, Shanna," Masuki teased as he grabbed an apple off the middle of the table reaching right in front of her.   
  
"Bite me."   
  
"Love to, but unfortunately I've got a plane to catch, the world to see."   
  
"Gee, don't sound so happy about it." Shanna mumbled and then seeing his puzzled expression waved her hand as if to say 'Ignore me'.   
  
Kusanagi got the last packed suitcase in the trunk of the car and then the five of them got in going to the airport and meeting some of the other family there. Kimiko sat between the teenagers and Momiji noticed Shanna seemed even less than thrilled to see having to be in the car. When they got to the airport the young girl ignored Masuki and walked to the terminal in silence.   
  
"Is this how big the airport terminal is?" Kimiko asked.   
  
"This is the airport. It has lots of terminals for the planes to let passengers on and off." Shanna answered.   
  
"She speaks." Masuki commented as they stood waiting for the rest of the group to get there as the plane was not to take off for another half an hour.   
  
"What do you want me to say, Masuki?" Shanna demanded, "that I'm happy you're leaving? Well, I'm not."   
  
Sitting in the airport lounge area next to the terminal, away from his parents that were waiting a way aways for the other adults, Kimiko interested in the window that overlooked the landing strip they sat next to each other.   
  
"You knew I wanted to become part of the TAC when I turned fifteen, Shanna. It was no big secret." his voice raised slightly and a couple sitting behind them shifted in their seats.   
  
"I don't want to talk about it, Masuki."   
  
"Fine. Be upset, see if I care."   
  
"Fine."   
  
"Fine."   
  
"Fine!"   
  
"Fine!" with that they got up and moved away from each other. As Shanna went over to where Kimiko stood, her hand came to the small package that she had in her pocket and sighed. She really was being too petty about this. It was his dream, she should be happy for him but she couldn't force it and didn't want to.   
  
"You know, you could practically feel the tension between you two from the airport parking lot." came the easy going voice of Keizo Yaegashi, whose hair was red-orange cut short and spiky.   
  
"Don't joke, Kei."   
  
"Why don't you go over there, tell him your head over heels in love with him and stop being such a baby?"   
  
Astonished that he would say that, she turned her blue-mahogany eyes on him.   
  
"I am not IN LOVE WITH THAT SELF CENTERED JERK." she told him between clenched teeth.   
  
"Oh, no? Then why are you so upset about it?"   
  
"Why aren't you? Last time I checked you weren't too happy with his decision to go all the way to the United States to live."   
  
"He is going to be going to school and working. It's what he always wanted and talked about."   
  
"I know," Shanna sighed, "I just wish I was more for this than against it."   
  
"You just don't want him to go," Keizo grinned, "all those hot-blooded American girls just waiting to get their hands on him."   
  
She punched his shoulder, as he laughed. Kimiko saw Keizo's younger brother, Yoshifumi, who was eight and smiled. He had dark hair but the same brown eyes as Keizo.   
  
"Hey, Fumi!"   
  
"Kimi, are you going to the park later?"   
  
"Mom is taking me for ice cream."   
  
The two younger kids talked as Masuki discussed things with Daitetsu, Ryoko, and Toyoharu because Daitetsu was the one going with Masuki to the U.S. because the new extension of TAC was in New York and he hadn't checked it out yet. Kome noticed her son talking to his best friend and nudged her husband, Yoshiki.   
  
"Think the two of them will be okay without Plant Boy Jr?" Kome asked.   
  
"They'll be fine, he won't be gone forever." Yoshiki calmly replied as Toyoharu glanced to the other two teenagers, noticing they were both in the Junior High uniforms for their final year. Toyoharu could see the upset expression on Shanna's face as she talked to Keizo, who was the clown, and then laughed at something he said. Shanna was one of the reasons Masuki gave for not leaving until next year, that if something happened to his sister or to Shanna and he wasn't here but they worked that out. Nothing had happened in four years what was going to happen if he did what he planned to all along?   
  
As Azusa made it with Jun, who was a full member of the TAC for years now the plane was starting to board and the adults were wishing the two leaving members goodbye. Shanna went to Daitetsu, who was like another father figure in her life, and hugged him as he smiled at her.   
  
"Take care of yourself, Shanna and make sure that Kimiko minds Momiji and Kusanagi. With you around she'll probably be less of a hand full."   
  
"Have a good flight, Mr. Kunikida."   
  
As Keizo just nodded his head to Masuki then the raven-haired boy looked at Shanna. The stewardess made the final boarding call for them and she just watched him get on the plane. Keizo elbowed her.   
  
"What?"   
  
"I swear, I don't understand girls. Go and hug him for crying out loud."   
  
"No. I am not going to."   
  
"Do it, Shanna."   
  
Glaring at him, she went into the boarding platform having Kome, Ryoko, and Momiji grin at her retreating figure that Ryoko looked to Kome.   
  
"Who does that remind you of?" she asked, then they both looked at Momiji.   
  
"What?"   
  
In the terminal, Shanna yelled to Masuki, who was walking with Kunikida. Seeing the young girl, the older man excused himself saying he'd meet Masuki in the plane. Coming to stand right in front of Masuki, she caught her breath.   
  
"Well?"   
  
Shanna glared at his sharp tone.   
  
"Don't get that tone with me, Masuki," Shanna countered.   
  
"Did you come all this way to fight with me?"   
  
Shaking her head, she pulled out the small package and handed it to him.   
  
"I'm not good with good-byes, alright? My dad goes to and from my life it gets a little redundant and I got mad at you for doing the same thing. Alright? So sue me I acted like a girl."   
  
Masuki lifted the corner of his mouth at her comment, since it was an old joke between him, Keizo, and Shanna that she always acted more boy than girl.   
  
"What's the present for?"   
  
"Well, open it."   
  
He pulled off the paper and found it to be a small frame with a picture of her, Keizo, and him. Last year when school got out and they were goofing off in the backyard of Keizo's house.   
  
"Travel size," Shanna explained, "more personal than a wallet picture."   
  
"You are acting more and more like a girl," Masuki observed, seeing she had made the frame which was out of willow wood with embossed gray sand spelling out 'Friends'.   
  
"Don't act so surprised, I am a girl."   
  
"I didn't say I didn't notice, Shanna." Masuki's voice had become soft.   
  
Surprised, she stared at him. Then like a true girl threw her arms around his neck and hugged him, he quickly moved his hand out of the way so she didn't break what she had so obviously taken alot of time to create and wrapped his arms around her waist. Her head buried in his shoulder that she pulled back in his arms just enough so that she spoke her breath was against his cheek.   
  
"I'm gonna miss you, you know."   
  
"I'll miss you, too."   
  
"You better or I might have to fast forward to my birthday and go all the way to New York and become your shadow all over again."   
  
Smiling at her, he kissed her forehead before releasing her.   
  
"Better go or they'll leave me in here."   
  
"Yeah," she took a step back and then as if her entire body had a mind of its own, she leaned forward and pressed her lips against his slowly and softly. It was the smallest of kisses and briefest but Shanna felt it throughout her entire body and pulled back, seeing the amazement in his eyes, "bye."   
  
Then she went down the terminal with a small smile on her lips that when she came out she quickly hid. Touching her lips with the tips of her fingers and couldn't help the smile that stayed on her face the rest of the day.   
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~   
  
So that is the Prologue, just the beginning. Thought I'd redo the start of the story and give something more to build on. The Chapter 1 will be more like what I started out with but some add ons. What did you think?   
  
~Scandal~   
October 28, 2001


	2. The Homecoming

Mitamas: After The End   
Chapter 1: The Homecoming   
  
Written by: Scandalous Behavior   
  
~ ~ ~ ~   
  
The night had a way of concealing what no one wanted to see. At least that was the way three people always saw it and all three happened to be out that very night. As usual the silver light from the moon lit up the forested area that hid the single hidden away house of one of the most important, if not well-known, families of Tokyo. In the gravel round about drive way was parked right in front of the front door was a black hard top Jeep with the windows all fogged up from the two bodies inside of it. Only if you got close to the window could you make out the shapes and vaguely see just what was causing the condensation on the windows.   
  
Not having enough room with the bucket seats of the interior of the Jeep kept the two teenagers from doing much more than kissing and feeling each other with their hands. The female was making half-moaning sounds in the back of her throat as the male found his hand under her red-knit sweater that had been picked for the clinging to the skin feature it had and as his hand cupped her black bra clad breast she kissed his talented mouth all that much more aggressively. Finally he pulled back with that sleepy-cat eyed look he always got after a good make out session. It was a major turn on, since to her it made him twice as sexy as he was normally.   
  
The passenger side door opened and he climbed out, as she righted her angled clothes back into some sort of order and then gave him her most sensual pouty look. In the dark she saw the moon cast a reflection on his face and caught his wink as he shut the door and walked around to the driver side, as she rolled down the window.   
  
Then out of the corner of his eye as he walked around the cold-steel vehicle saw on the balcony of the wood and glass house on the second story was a female figure, reminding him of his practically houseguest status. A scowl touched his lips and then disappeared as his most recent girlfriend smiled at him.   
  
"Have good dreams, lover." Chiye Sawanobori called to him before turning on the Jeep and with a flip of her brown tendrils drove away.   
  
Having watched his girlfriend make her way down the private drive and onto the highway leading back into the city of Tokyo, his face took on a narrowed eyed look and with a swift movement of air leapt onto the second story balcony, not surprised that the girl standing there in nothing but a pair of blue-green plaid pants and a loose blue t-shirt with her hair still in the ponytail that got divided into three braids didn't even flinch at his appearing so suddenly with non-human reflexes.   
  
Her arms were crossed on the balcony wooden railing, just looking out like she hadn't seen a thing when he knew damn well she had seen everything. Leaning against the house, next to the sliding screen doors that led into her bedroom, he took out a cigarette from his black leather jacket top pocket and lit it with his lighter from his jean pocket. Snapping the lid back on the lighter finally got her to recognize that he was standing behind her off to the side and wasn't planning on moving any time soon.   
  
"Spying on me again?" his voice was harsh and chilly, not letting on that he was even the little bit interested in why she was such a night-owl every night.   
  
"And why would I do that?" her own voice wasn't all that pleasant either, "I am not in the habit in wondering about your mating rituals or your obvious taste in girlfriends."   
  
A cloud of cigarette smoke came right next to her, brushing against her neck and ear as she could then feel the body heat of him having moved to stand almost directly behind her.   
  
"Oh, no? Then again I shouldn't be surprised that a virgin, a cold one at that, would have no feeling about anything anyhow from the neck down. My mistake."   
  
Turning as she quickly realized that he was almost touching her standing so close that her own body brushed his as she turned and the leather of his jacket brushed her t-shirt covered body, causing her nipples to push against the thin material as if to invite his touch.   
  
"I really don't care what you think about me. Really I don't care why you are back after being gone so long without a word to anyone until two weeks ago when you mysteriously decided to come home and I couldn't care less that you seem to be a bitch-magnet to all the girls at our school. Now if you'll excuse me, it's getting late and I have to be up early."   
  
He didn't move standing a head taller than she was and leaning forward that forced her to move a step back. His hands coming to rest on either side of her, gripping the railing, his left hand flicking the now burnt out cigarette onto the gravel driveway below.   
  
"You and I are going to come to an understanding. All I care about is that you stay out of my way."   
  
Looking into those deep green pools of his eyes, that had that un-natural cat-tendency for the pupils to contract, had the tiniest bit of gold flicker in them as his voice grew indifferent. Her own blue eyes with the hint of crimson about her irises glared back at him.   
  
"Sounds fine to me," she ducked under his arm and glanced over her shoulder, "just as long as we understand each other."   
  
His lips twisted just an inch into a smug smile.   
  
"Oh, and by the way," he paused turning around and then leaned back on his arms still gripping the railing, "I guess you're not as immune to me as you'd like to think." His black head nodded to the all too-revealing outline of her nipples in the material.   
  
"It's cold," she called before she was about to shut the screen she had just opened, "don't let it go to your head that you have any affect on my body whatsoever. I don't usually go for prowling tom-cats and your DNA has nothing to do with it."   
  
A click on the screen was the next sound he heard before he let out a stream of curses that had been building up since he had first saw the she was once again facing the moon and the night like some priestess to it all. Jumping onto the lower roof off to the left and then onto the small balcony that led into his room, he opened the screen and slammed it almost making it bounce off the hinges. He tossed his leather jacket in the corner on top of his stereo system and then kicked off the sneakers next to his queen-sized bed before laying back on it, crossing his arms under his head and staring up at the ceiling.   
  
Why did he always let that petite sandy-haired blond get to him? It was like they went around in circles about their mutual dislike of one another that had his parents playing referee. Not that he didn't appreciate how having the younger girl in the house was a load off his mind when it came to his younger sister, who was the champion on how great that bundle of sarcasm was. One of things that had him coming back rather than stay in New York with his adopted grandparents Daitetsu and Ryoko Kunikida was that he admittedly was worried about the sprite. After all the things he had heard of what his mother and his aunt had gone through it got to him that his sister might have to go through the same things. Then to come home to find that he had hardly been missed thanks to the blonde's presence.   
  
Getting up he pulled off his green t-shirt over his head and then climbed under the blankets of his bed, not remembering that he had even made it that morning but was sure that his mother had done it. Even after being gone for almost three years she still had the maternal instinct in her to nurture him as if he was still the naïve fifteen year old he had been rather than the eighteen year old hard ass he was now. With a small yawn, he laid back and let sleep take him.   
  
~ ~ ~ ~   
  
Morning came all too soon for her, as it shown in from the screens that let light in and from the two glass white curtained windows in the room that had been hers for almost seven years now. Rubbing at her eyes, she suddenly remembered last night and groaned at the thought.   
  
Well you sure know how to make yourself personable to him, don't you, Shanna? She berated herself. There goes your plan to be nicer to him.   
  
Tossing off the white with silver lining comforter she put her feet on the wooden flooring that had most of it covered up with the big blue rug that kept her feet from freezing in the morning. Her hair cascaded around her in a tangled mess as she had taken her hair down like she did every night and realized how long it was getting. Standing up she went to the bathroom that connected to her and Kimiko's rooms and turned on the shower, tossing her clothes in the hamper and getting in letting the water spray her in the face before taking the shampoo and cleaning her hair.   
  
It wasn't like she hadn't tried to be nice to him the first day he got back from the trip that neither one of his parents wanted to talk about. She really had but for some reason whenever they tried to have a normal conversation it turned into a battle of wits leaving both of them angry at the end. Even Kimiko, his ten-year-old sister was at a loss from how to deal with her sullen older brother who was always polite to her but still distant. And then after seeing him again with that Chiye Sawanobori who had chosen Shanna to be her snip-at-toy this year, she had been all sarcasm-witch again. Being the daughter of the mayor of Tokyo made the girl think that she was above anyone else and even more when Chiye finally got the newest hot guy of Tokyo High to go out with her. Then it wasn't like he was going to say no with her practically throwing herself at him, what normal hot-blooded male would turn down that kind of invitation? Shanna turned off the water after finishing her hair and body she pulled open the shower door and grabbed her towel drying herself off before slipping into her comfortable terry-cloth robe and combing her hair back into a ponytail held with the black band and then dividing the hair in the ponytail into three individual braids and binding each end of the braid with smaller black bands. Going into her room she pulled out her green school uniform and once she was finished dressing she sat on her bed to finish putting her homework into her bag. What was with her lately? She had a very full life that she should be able to deal with him being back in it, considering most of her friends were male. Sometimes she swore that life was playing a trick on her making her female when all it did was make everything in her life five million times more complicated. As she zipped her backpack she remembered what he said last night about her body responding to his. Was that true? Did she actually think herself attracted to that jerk again? Praying that what she had told him in response to his words was right she headed downstairs.   
  
~ ~ ~ ~   
  
Momiji Fujimija Kusanagi, the former Princess Kushinada, watched her youngest daughter Kimiko dressed for elementary school bouncing down the stairs with her thick auburn hair pulled away from her face with two rabbit hair clips and a smile came to Momiji's lips. Her daughter completely reminded her of herself at that age. Ten-years-old without a care in the world, followed by the girl she had come to love as a daughter Shanna Sugishita all dressed in her high school uniform. Noticing that her son, Masuki, made his way down with his leather jacket on over the green pants and white buttoned down shirt, the tie hanging loose around his neck. He completely reminded her of the sex appeal that Kusanagi had and still had, that he must have been just like Masuki drawing girls to him without even trying. Only little things separated how much her husband and her son looked alike which was that Masuki had her eyes, the dark green of the Kushinada and that Masuki's hair was more black than green. Taking in her son's appearance, even though he had been back a week still made her realize how much she had missed him. Knowing that what he had done had to have been done still didn't make her miss him or not want him back any less.   
Seeing the rolling eyes of her son towards Shanna, as if to say what a goody-goody she was in her immaculate uniform and with all her work done in her bag slung on her right shoulder, she shook her head. If only those two would get along she might have everything she ever wanted.   
  
"Morning, Momiji." Shanna greeted.   
  
"Can I ride with Shanna, Mom? She has to stop on her way to school and it's right by my school?" Kimiko asked earnestly, bringing Momiji's eyes to rest on the older girl.   
  
"It's nothing just something I was working off I need to drop off to Toyoharu." Shanna explained, simply causing Masuki to raise any eyebrow at the name of his technical-uncle who was more like an older brother.   
  
"Why do you need to go to the TAC?" Masuki wondered.   
  
"I work there."   
  
Kusanagi came in from the study with a book and found himself almost stumbling from the hug that Kimiko laughed at him, causing him to lean down and hug his daughter.   
  
"Good morning, Daddy. Shanna's gonna drive me to school so you don't have too, okay?"   
  
Kusanagi saw Shanna nod and then looked at Momiji.   
  
"Sure if it's okay with your mother."   
  
"Please, Mommy?"   
  
"You can go, Kimiko. Just be sure to mind Shanna."   
  
As if on queue to imitate her brother, Kimiko rolled her eyes.   
  
"I will. Come on, Shanna."   
  
Grabbing the older girl's hand, Kimiko pulled Shanna out of the house, followed by Masuki who went over to his Kawasaki motorcycle that was parked in the garage with Shanna's VW Bug.   
  
"What do you do at TAC?"   
  
"Nothing that would interest you, Masuki. Get in, Kimiko."   
  
Shanna shut the door after her opening her door and Kimiko climbed into the passenger seat. Masuki watched her pull out and narrowed his eyes on what she could possibly do at the TAC that he didn't know about.   
  
~ ~ ~ ~   
  
After dropping off her folder of research she had been doing for Toyoharu Kunikida and waving goodbye to Kimiko at the elementary school, she drove and parked at Tokyo High. Heading up the sidewalk to the school doors and inside to instantly find the halls filled with people whispering and other talking loudly, which was strange because they were all just standing no one walking. Walking to her locker, she found a bunch of girls gathered around it and finally managed to get into it feeling eyes on the back of her neck.   
  
"Hey, Shanna!" came the female voice of Akemi Takada, the black haired brown eyed girl making her way around the standing crowd.   
  
"Akemi, what is going on and why do I feel like I'm on display?" Shanna asked her friend, shoving her bag into her locker and retrieving the books she'd need for her first few classes.   
  
"You don't know? Oh, yeah you just got in this mob," Akemi's fast talking way was causing Shanna to stare at her, to just get to the point, "it seems like you have an admirer whose been asking about you since early this morning."   
  
"An admirer?" Shanna shut her locker.   
  
"This really, I mean really, hot guy who looks like a senior and has had all the girls staring at him all morning. He's in the courtyard now but it was strange cause he first got in here he was like just asking about you."   
  
"Me? As in me in general or where I was?"   
  
"Both actually. It's really mysterious and he is really nice to answer all our questions but won't say why he wants to talk to you. Masuki got here a couple minutes ago and the two actually looked like they were going to fight right then and there it was so weird."   
  
"Akemi, are you sure you haven't eaten any mushrooms or something? You are not making any sense."   
  
"Shanna! Here, come on I'll take you to him and you can see for yourself."   
  
Yanking on Shanna's wrist, the brunette made her way into the courtyard to one of the cherry trees where underneath on one of the cement benches sat a guy who in any terms could only be described as perfectly hot. With long hair seemed to be made out of sunlight it was so golden, and looking up with brown-gold eyes in the uniform that fit his body as if it had been tailor made that made no other guy at the school look good enough to eat in. He stood up as he saw her and she was taken aback by the way he moved that it reminded her of Masuki's grace-like cat reflexes. Akemi stepped to the side of her friend and gave him a straight line to Shanna.   
  
Taking her right hand in his, he kissed the back of it looking into her eyes the entire time he did it that it sent a tingling feeling up her arm that she almost dropped the books she held to her side with her left hand.   
  
"You are Shanna." He stated, his voice like a smooth flowing wave.   
  
Finally finding her tongue, as the girls behind her were sighing at the romantic gesture, she spoke, "I'm Shanna."   
  
"Allow me to introduce myself, I am Akihiro."   
  
Letting her hand go, his fingers caressed her palm and she pulled back not understanding the sensations his touch was invoking.   
  
"Akihiro!" came the enraged voice of Masuki, who seemed to appear out of thin air between Shanna and Akihiro, who was about three inches taller than Masuki, "just what the hell do you think your doing?!"   
  
Before either one could say another word the bell rang and groans at having to go to class came from the observers in the courtyard, as if breaking whatever spell seemed to have been cast on them. Shuffling of bodies and movement came from every angle of the yard. But Masuki and Akihiro had yet to move.   
  
"Masuki." Akihiro's voice was amused.   
  
"Masuki, what are you doing?" Shanna demanded, finally getting his attention to have him glance over his shoulder at her.   
  
"Just go to class, Shanna."   
  
"No. What is going on?"   
  
"Shanna, just do it!" Masuki growled and she glanced over his leather-clad shoulder to Akihiro, who seemed amused about Masuki's actions but only inclined his head towards her as Akemi and Shanna left.   
  
As soon as the door closed, Masuki's stance changed into a fight stance.   
  
"What the hell are you doing here?"   
  
"Why, nothing."   
  
"Don't give me that. I saw you with her and I want to know just what you think your doing."   
  
"Nothing that she did not permit."   
  
"And just what is that supposed to mean?"   
  
Akihiro took a step back, hands in his pockets of his green pants.   
  
"Why don't you ask her? I must be going."   
  
With a swift wind, Akihiro had disappeared and Masuki knew he had a whole new set of problems to deal with.   
  
~ ~ ~ ~   
  
Trying to go over why the whole thing seemed so strange, Shanna repeated everything to Keizo Yaegashi. The seventeen year old red-orange haired guy that was the Junior Class Clown was also the editor of the school paper and her best friend along with Akemi, which at one time Masuki had also had that position as well. Sitting on top of the teacher's desk that Keizo had full use of as his desk, her legs dangling off the edge she bit into a chip as she talked to him, sitting behind the desk in his chair with his hands typing over and over on the keyboard.   
  
"So you're telling me that although you two are fighting like cats and dogs at home just a while ago he was 'saving' you from some new guy?"   
  
"Right, it was the strangest thing. The guy kisses my hand, states my name when I had never met or seen him and then Masuki appears out of no where to break it up. I think I am going to start charging interfering with my life charges against him if he doesn't stop being such a jerk."   
  
"Well, at least that hasn't changed." Keizo mused.   
  
"Very funny, Kei. What do you think? Did some New Yorker take his brain and replace it with someone else's or what? I can't take the fact that he acts like I'm the enemy at home even though he's announced his moving out intentions."   
  
"Can it also be that you can't stand Chiye and don't want to see him with her?"   
  
"He's back a week, one freakin' week and Chiye is on him like flies on..."   
  
Keizo held up his hand in protest of her reference.   
  
"It's not like he's complaining, Shanna."   
  
"Right, like you'd complain to have Miss Tokyo-Mayor's-daughter all over you?" Shanna asked.   
  
"The guy is human."   
  
"Tell that to his Aragami DNA. He's worse than the jocks, one day and he's got every single girl at school panting after him."   
  
"I could see where a guy might hate that attention." Keizo said thoughtfully, and then grinned.   
  
"Why am I asking you anyway? You're a guy."   
  
"The reason you are is because," Keizo stood up and tugged on one of her braids before coming around the desk, "you used to be in love with his Bad Ass self and now want to know why the guy you loved is no longer around, coming back as a completely different person with no one answering your questions and I am the only one listening."   
  
"Thank you, Dr. Yaegashi." Shanna said sarcastically.   
  
"You just have to face facts that whatever changed Masuki is deeper than what you'd think." Keizo stated and Shanna looked at the guy she considered the one true person that understood her.   
  
"But what could? I'm almost starting to think the guy I lo....knew," Shanna caught herself but Keizo only grinned as he went over papers littering the other reporters desks, "was all in my head from day one."   
  
"Being ten does have a way of making people nicer, doesn't it?"   
  
"All I know is that whatever kindness Masuki has for me anymore is extended into telling me who I can socialize with now."   
  
"He is one of the people that is protecting you."   
  
"Protecting me from what? Having a life?"   
  
"No," came the mildly irritated male voice of Masuki Kusanagi, "from making a bad choice that has too many consequences to name."   
  
Shanna jumped off the desktop and made her way over to him, standing in the doorway looking way too much like her over active imagination's remembrance of him.   
  
"Pick up the habit of sneaking up on people and ease dropping," Shanna wondered, "not very attractive qualities."   
  
"Keep it up, Sunshine, I'll introduce you to some of my other non-attractive qualities."   
  
"Why don't you go jump your girlfriend or has the football team already taken up Her Highness's time for the afternoon?"   
  
Keizo had to keep from laughing at the picture; Shanna always had such a colorful way with words. Masuki only lifted the corner of his lips in that half-smile she was beginning to detest.   
  
"Are you ready to go?" Masuki asked Keizo, who shrugged.   
  
"About as done as I'm gonna get this afternoon," Keizo started motioning them out and locked the door,   
"Coming to the TAC, Shanna?"   
  
"If he's there I'd rather be anywhere else. Tell Toyo I'll stop by his house after gymnastics."   
  
"Sure."   
  
Masuki only nodded to Shanna as Keizo and he walked the other way to the parking lot.   
  
"She goes out by herself?"   
  
Keizo wore a strange expression on his face at his old friend.   
  
"Why shouldn't she? We don't put her in a cage, Masuki, you know we never did, although it was brought up by your father last time we went out to the club and he caught sight of what she was wearing." Keizo chuckled at the memory when it had been Shanna's sixteenth and they headed to the 'Popular' hang out and made Chiye see just what Shanna looked like which would give even the Mayor's Precious Jewel a run for her money in the looker department.   
  
"Does she have a boyfriend?"   
  
Keizo now wanted to know what Masuki was getting at, although he should know all about Shanna from phone calls with his parents.   
  
"She's been dating Toyoharu for six months, Masuki," Keizo stated.   
  
That was the last thing that was said for the whole ride to the TAC.   
  
~ ~ ~ ~   
  
Masuki couldn't explain why that fact, the one that had Shanna with Toyoharu, bothered him so much only that it did and that he wasn't able to comphrend why was going to drive him nuts. Keizo followed in his car to the Terrestrial Administration Center, the new building in Upper Downtown Building that was over fifty stories tall and with half the Defense Force, Research Division, and the entire TAC center inside along with many labs for all the new discovers they had been doing the last fourteen years. Setting the motorcycle in the back parking lot, Masuki turned off the engine and waited for Keizo to park and get out of the car.   
  
Heading into the building he ignored the obvious looks of interest and some distain from others at having the 'Bad Boy' back in the TAC as he had been dubbed the first day he got back to Japan and entered the TAC after three years. He had changed and so, it seemed, had everyone else. Right now he had a bone to pick with his 'older brother'. Hitting the button for the twenty-fifth floor, Keizo only shook his head as if sensing what was up with Masuki. The red head could always read him, not that he wasn't grateful it saved on having to have un-necessary talks. Getting off the elevator onto the floor, which was redecorated with pictures taken from amateur and pro shots on the supposed monsters from years ago now known as Aragami hung on the white walls, the gray-marble flooring and into the large main room where the desks of the true leaders of the TAC stayed. The offices in New York were over-done, blown out of proportion and without the true meaning behind the entire idea which was one of the reasons he was glad to be back in Tokyo, putting aside other reasoning. The object of his full attention was behind a chair and desk, as usual blue-black bangs falling into his eyes and blue eyes hidden behind trendy eye glasses, with a turtleneck dark blue sweater and slacks on. Every inch the leader's son, and now the leader.   
  
Masuki sensed more than saw that Azusa Matsudaira was in the corner of the room, in the comfort area of plush chairs and a couch going over lab reports on her notebook desktop with her son, the eldest of the new team Jun at one of the built in book cases flipping through a cataloged photographed book of different plant life. Keizo had settled at his own desk nearest to the entrance of the door, dropping his bag on the gray stone colored desk his brown eyes settling on the figure of his confrontational friend. Matsudaira raised an inquisitive black eyebrow and Keizo nodded to Masuki standing in front of Toyoharu Kunikida's desk.   
  
"If I didn't know better, I'd say that you were keeping things from me." Masuki stated going around the desk to lean against one of the wall beams that was to the side of Toyoharu's back.   
  
"I didn't keep anything from you, Masuki," Toyoharu's whole manner was the absolute personification of calm, "if you didn't know something you probably didn't read my report or didn't bother to ask."   
  
"I shouldn't have to ask about things that involved my family."   
  
At the tone level reaching a pitch higher, Jun looked towards the two-second eldest of the second generation of TAC, and then saw Keizo only grin and nod to keep watching and not disturb the two.   
  
"Last time I checked," Toyoharu finally tore his navy blue eyes from the computer screen to look at the enraged green-eyed glaze of the man he considered to be practically a brother, "she wasn't your family."   
  
As Keizo knew Masuki's emotions, so did Toyoharu.   
  
"That's beside the point. She also associates with Aragami, or didn't she tell you?"   
  
Toyoharu settled back in his chair, crossing his arms.   
  
"Care to explain? The only Aragami that are alive, technically, is your father, you, and your sister Kimiko. No other Aragami."   
  
"Wrong, bro. Akihiro decided to make the acquaintance of your girlfriend this afternoon."   
  
Surprise showed clearly on Toyoharu's features.   
  
"You're sure it was him?"   
  
Bitterness entered Masuki's voice, "I'd know him anywhere."   
  
"You sensed him."   
  
Masuki shrugged at the accusation.   
  
"If I did I didn't expect him to have a death wish."   
  
"After what happened with Caroline.."   
  
Masuki inhaled sharply at the female's name that caught Keizo's attention. Glancing to Jun, he mouthed 'Whose Caroline', Jun shrugged haven't heard anything about any girl by that name.   
  
"Damn it, Masuki, I could kill you!" Shanna's angered voice entered the tense conversation as all attention went to the leotard-clad teen whose eyes burned, seemingly towards the half amused, half annoyed Masuki.   
  
"Shanna, are you supposed to be at gymnastics?" Toyoharu asked, standing and coming around the desk as her immediate steps was leading her closer to the object of her current aggravation.   
  
"I would be," Toyoharu was now standing in front of her with concerned eyes, "if some jerk hadn't called the Gymnasium and stated that if I happened to show up that I can't enter without an escort or parent do to my delicate health. A jerk by the last name of Kusanagi, which could only be that Pole-Up-His-Ass Masuki since Kusanagi was the one who enrolled me."   
  
Masuki only looked uninterested at her, as Toyoharu put his hands on her upper arms to keep her from wanting to kill the eldest son of her guardians.   
  
"Her delicate health?" Keizo questioned with no little amount of amusement.   
  
"I simply told them that should a Miss Sugishita arrive that her health was not in the best way, mentally or physically," Masuki explained at Shanna's growl of frustration at not being able to choke the life out of him, "and if she did not have an escort or adult with her it would be in the Gym's best interest not to admit her."   
  
"Who the hell died and made you my guardian, Masuki?"   
  
"Since obviously no one else can seem to do the job, Sunshine, looks like I got the unwanted job."   
  
Twisting out of Toyoharu's gentle hold, she walked up to him and with a flat palm raised her hand to him only to have him catch her wrist and force her, unseen by the others, to come flat against his body molding their body features against one another.   
  
"Do it again, Sunshine," the endearment always snide, "and we'll see how far you're willing to do to get at me."   
  
The comment wasn't loud enough to carry and she glared retaliation at him before he let go of her hand and put distance between them.   
  
"Shanna hasn't been in any danger since she was ten, Masuki, we've had no reason to monitor her every move." Matsudaira told the young man.   
  
"Exactly why you should have been. Now Akihiro has gotten close enough to touch her, physically," Masuki felt no little pleasure in letting her boyfriend know, "and knows that she hasn't been watched."   
  
"Akihiro? Isn't he...?" Matsudaira started at the two boys direct look to be quiet, stopped in mid sentence.   
  
"What? What is your not telling us, Toyo?" Shanna asked.   
  
"I'll explain later, right now I want to know where he touched you."   
  
Shanna glared at Masuki for making it seem sordid.   
  
"My right hand, he kissed it."   
  
Toyoharu nodded to Matsudaira, who moved towards them and glanced over Shanna's right hand seeing and feeling nothing strange on the back of the girl's hand.   
  
"Okay, if you guys are done pawing me," Shanna glared at Masuki, "I'm going to go home since he killed my workout."   
  
"I'll come with you." Masuki told her as she moved towards the entrance to the office.   
  
"No. Do me a favor and get your things out of your room tonight and into that apartment of yours before I have a hard time explaining to your parents why, with only being back a week, they'll have to do without their eldest son for quite a time longer when I kill you."   
  
So pissed at him she stocked out of the room, with Keizo tossing an "I'll see her home" before either Toyoharu or Masuki could say anything else to upset her.   
  
"Looks like your charm with the opposite sex ends with Shanna, eh Masuki?" Jun asked, quietly as Toyoharu left the room to go see if he could get a hold of some report.   
  
"I wouldn't say that, Jun." Masuki mused, before nodding to Matsudaira and leaving the room.   
  
~ ~ ~ ~   
  
Got your interest peeked? Well, more to come with lots more details of what exactly is going on. Let me know what you think.   
  
~Scandal~   
October 28, 2001


	3. The Seeking

Mitamas: After The End   
Chapter 2: The Seeking   
  
Written by: Scandalous Behavior   
  
~ ~ ~ ~   
  
Making her way home in her car after ditching Keizo, Shanna thought back to why that strange guy would do something as odd as kissing her hand. Sure it was a romantic gesture and some people found it really personal but she found it to be strange and kinda annoying. As if she was one of the Pop Stars or some Teen Idol rather than a normal seventeen-year-old girl. Then again, Shanna thought with distaste, if people had her life they would hardly think she was normal. And then to have Masuki butting into her life like he was, it was enough for a girl to consider murder. Pulling into the residential driveway and into the garage with the automatic metal door opener hanging off the visor, she shut off her car and headed into the house to find Kusanagi sitting in the living room, in his chair, waiting impatiently for the always late Momiji.   
  
He turned his head at the teenage girl walking in, dropping her shoes next to the door and taking her bag off her shoulder. It amazed him that she was the offspring of a person that he couldn't spend five minutes around without wanting to choke the life out of, and that was restraining his thoughts. Shanna never left doubt in his mind that there was a god and he laughed at her parent constantly for having such a daughter so opposite of him, a thought that had left a grin on his face whenever he was around the suave blond. Another thing that made him realize how like him his son was came the fact that Shanna and Masuki couldn't be around each other for more than a second without some sort of verbal battle erupting.   
  
Kinda like Momiji, and me he thought then shuttered. All he needed was for those two to get together and turn his perfectly peaceful life upside down. Personally he liked that Shanna and Kimiko were so close, that Shanna and Masuki couldn't stand each other, and that in that very formula caused peace in the house. Add into the fact that his son was now in the process of moving all his things to an apartment, a major issue for Momiji after having Masuki come back and immediately say he was moving out, and that left no doubt that his peace would keep for a while longer. Although a big part of him, when the two teens were older of course, wished that Shanna and Masuki would find out how much they had in common and like one another, until that day, he just smiled at Shanna, he could count on his peace.   
  
"Still waiting on Momiji, huh?"   
  
"You'd think after years of knowing her I'd know better than to think she'd be on time, right?"   
  
Shanna laughed, "You'd think but I don't see that happening."   
  
"Me, either."   
  
"Is Kimi up in her room?"   
  
"Yes," Kusanagi stood and Shanna again cursed the Gods for making her so short and he noticed the cause of her disgruntled look and only grinned, "Kimi has been invited to spend the night at one of her friends' houses so you get to watch her," having learned that 'baby-sit' was not a good word to use for a ten-year-old, "until seven and then one of the parents will come get her. Then the house is all yours."   
  
"Feel free to throw a party," Momiji added coming down the stairs, "invite the whole student body and blame our son."   
  
Man, did they even know how much she wanted to blame him for everything and then do some very violent things to his person, she thought.   
  
"I'll keep that in mind," Shanna laughed, "have fun you two."   
  
Kusanagi groaned, "I so look forward to these meetings."   
  
"Come on, Kusanagi, it's fine. Don't mind him, he gets grumpy whenever he has to do anything."   
  
"Not true."   
  
They called goodbye to Kimi, who yelled it back and the door closed behind the two adults.   
  
Kimi peeked through the wooden banister to see Shanna, already she had gotten out of her school clothes into a white t-shirt and blue jump suit. The older girl came up and saw Kimi.   
  
"What's up?"   
  
"Dad told you I'm spending the night at my friend's house?"   
  
"Yes."   
  
"Good, I wanted to make sure."   
  
The way the younger girl put it had Shanna lifting her eyebrows to what the girl was up to.   
  
"And just why did he need to tell me?"   
  
"Cause," Kimi stood and gave a small grin, "my friends and I are going to go to the lake."   
  
"The lake? What lake?"   
  
"The one by Brittany's house. It's huge and better than any pool. Mom is afraid that I'll drown or something, but I'm a really good swimmer. So please don't tell them."   
  
"Why are you telling me if you didn't tell them?"   
  
"I want you to know," Kimi explained, "cause you're like my sister."   
  
Shanna smiled and kissed the top of Kimi's head.   
  
"Just be careful is all I ask."   
  
"I will," Kimi grinned, "Me big tough girl, tie my own shoes and everything." making her voice sound deep and mature.   
  
Shanna laughed and went upstairs to change, before going over Kimi's homework with her, as she did every night. Trying to forget the fact that the only other person that was likely to be coming home early that night was Masuki and she pushed her thoughts out of the way.   
  
~ ~   
  
Meanwhile, under the very Earth that the humans walked on was the presence of something not of any known dimension. The radiating essence of the creature even caused the entering figure to the protected earth bound bubble that kept anything not wanted out while it strengthened in the middle of a blue-green suspended water cocoon. Hidden disgust in his brown-gold eyes made Akihiro glance to the positions that the only other two companions of the creature were in.   
  
The newest one, with flowing dark red hair and maliciousness in her black irises, was leaning on a smooth, flat rock that was acting as a table her outfit made of layered silken material of black and red with blood red painted fingernails tapping the surface of the rock with impatience at the only other figure besides Akihiro allowed in this evil container.   
  
A long forgotten presence of long black-purple hair, white skin tone and penetrating gray eyes stood the back to borrowed human form of Ama No Murakumo No Tsurugi. His back to Akihiro as he observed the growing aura coming from the creature not twenty feet from him.   
  
"You were successful?"   
  
Akihiro folded his arms over his chest of the High School Uniform he was still wearing.   
  
"I was, although Masuki decided to jump in at the last minute," Akihiro looked pointed at the female, "playing Boy Hero but didn't stop me from putting the seed in her."   
  
"At least that hasn't changed about him." The female's voice rang out, amused.   
  
"He will have to be taken care of," Murakumo turned around with a sadistic smile on his lips, "he's as imperfect as his father. Although the Kushinada blood in his own veins makes up some for his imperfection."   
  
"He's nothing I can't handle," Akihiro told Murakumo, "again."   
  
"This time he's on his home turf, Akihiro. He's not going to be the weak sixteen year old he once was."   
  
"You saw to that," Akihiro blamed, "making him fall for you only made his determination twice what it would have been if you had only slept with him and wounded his pride."   
  
Staring at her nails, she lifted her hand to pretend to exam it.   
  
"It made him worthy of you having to kill him, Akihiro. You're always saying how weak and useless it is to kill easy humans. I just made him worth your effort," her voice got a cold edge, "besides if Daddy-Dearest over there had killed precious Shanna back when we wouldn't have to go through all this now."   
  
Murakumo moved, his grip painful as he touched the female's delicate skin and she gave out a yelp of pain.   
  
"You have no idea what plans involve that girl," Murakumo's nails cut into her arm as green liquid poured out and onto the dirt floor, "she has twice the power and usefulness to this whole situation than you can possibly understand."   
  
His hand removed its hold on her upper arm, causing her to grab at the pain that was quickly healing due to her own mitama's powers. Akihiro smirked at her naïveté towards what Murakumo could have done to her for that comment.   
  
"When should we start to begin making own plans towards to Kushinada?"   
  
"Tonight," Murakumo looked at the two of them, "I leave the way up to you. Make sure not to kill her, we need her alive this time."   
  
He made his way to the cocoon and disappeared.   
  
Akihiro glanced towards the female.   
  
"Gee, isn't he in a pissy mood."   
  
"You still have no idea what he's up to, do you?"   
  
"What are you talking about?"   
  
"You've got to be the stupidest female to ever live if you think he's going to make you some sort of Princess like you want once this is all over," Akihiro informed, "you'll be lucky if you survive."   
  
"Think so, Akihiro? Well, I've got news for him I have my own way of doing things and it will serve him well to not make me turn against him."   
  
Akihiro gave a cold chuckle.   
  
"Right, you keep thinking that way and your going to end up as dead as you once were."   
  
"We'll see," she moved away, "if you don't mind I think playing with children should be your job. Oh, by the way, Akihiro does Daddy-Dearest know you've taken a personal interest in Miss Precious, watching her bedroom window? How ironic if you fall for the girl when you're the one who's going to have to kill her."   
  
Turning on her heel she walked away.   
  
"And wouldn't it be a shame if once Masuki sees you again that he sees right into your self-serving whore heart, eh, Caroline?" Akihiro called to her, as she stopped and forced the words away before vanishing.   
  
Satisfied that he had but that girl in her place, he raised his hand towards the ceiling.   
  
"I call upon the long sleep of Kappa, rise from your slumber and join me."   
  
Akihiro heard the faint sounds of a rumble and grinned to himself.   
  
~ ~   
  
Realizing that she didn't talk to Toyoharu about the report like she had wanted to earlier, thanks to Masuki had made her sidetracked, she saw Kimiko wave goodbye as she got into her best friend's parents car. When the younger girl had passed by her, she had whispered to be careful. Kimiko nodded before greeting the other girl with light brown hair who had to be Brittany.   
  
After staying by the living room window until the car was out of sight, she decided to grab her jacket and head over to the Kunikida's since the group 'adult' meeting was being held at the Yaegashi's house from last minute decisions, which was where Momiji and Kusanagi had gone tonight. Opening the front door as she put her arm in the other sleeve of her jean jacket, she almost tripped over the incoming Masuki.   
  
"Going somewhere, Sunshine?"   
  
"Yes. If you've got a problem with it, deal."   
  
"Don't start, Shanna." Masuki closed the door behind him and by stepping forward made her have to step back in order to keep distance between the two of them.   
  
"Why not? You've ruined my evening anyway."   
  
"How about if I tell you I'm doing this for your own good?" Masuki offered.   
  
"How about I don't care and you get out of my way?"   
  
"Ain't going to happen?"   
  
Frustrated with him, "Can't you for once act like a normal human being and pretend that you care if only a little bit about what I want? I'm not a doll, I'm not made of porcelain and you know nothing of what I can and can't do from these last three years. You lost all privileges of knowing me when you left, Masuki."   
  
"So that kiss in the terminal was….?" Masuki asked.   
  
Praying her cheeks stayed the pale shade they always were, she answered.   
  
"A goodbye kiss. You were one of my best friends at the time, remember?"   
  
"You're going to blame me the rest of my life for leaving?" Masuki asked, mild astonishment on his face, "Do you have any idea what it was I was doing in New York?"   
  
"No, I don't and you know why, Mr. TAC Hotshot," she stepped closer and used her index finger to poke his chest, "because you found it inconvenient to even talk to me. E-mail me, phone me, or even write me. When you called it was to talk to your parents or to Kimiko, not once did you ask to talk to me or wonder what it was I was doing. Do you know how that made me feel? Or that fact that you'd call Keizo at least once a month to catch up? Forgive me if I took that a little personal."   
  
"Shanna, you don't understand…"   
  
"Fine," Shanna folded her arms, "explain it to me."   
  
He opened his mouth to do just that when on both their wrists came the communicators that was the latest item that the TAC had been given by the government with the words of Keizo as well as his self appearing on the small screen.   
  
"Sorry to interrupt your conversation," Keizo's tone said he was anything but sorry, "but we've got a sighting in Meadow Wood Park Housing of a monster."   
  
Shanna felt her heart clench, as that was where Kimiko was.   
  
"Where in Meadow Wood?" Shanna asked, immediately causing both males to startle.   
  
"In the lake…" Shanna ran out the front door to her car with Masuki on her tail, "what is it, Shanna?" Keizo asked worried.   
  
"That's where Kimiko is."   
  
~ ~   
  
In the Yaegashi household, Daitetsu Kunikida, the once leader of the TAC, was standing in front of the group of his family and friends. His back to the fire place as Yaegashi's youngest son, Yoshifumi, was getting drinks for some of the adults as his mother had informed him he could before going over to his friend's house.   
  
Kusanagi stood in the back of the couch with Momiji in front of him on the couch, Ryoko Kunikida in a chair to the left of her husband with Kome leaning over the back of the recliner that Yaegashi was in. Matsudaira was sitting in a high back chair next to Ryoko. Daitetsu held in his hand the paperwork that Toyoharu had handed him before going back to the TAC. With Shanna's handwriting stating what she had found the day she went out to take samples on the outskirts of Tokyo of the dirt and plant life.   
  
"Why I had to bring you all together is to give some disturbing information from a report done by Shanna," Daitetsu let that sink in, "from what she conducted on the edge of Tokyo was that there was a abundant amount of dead plants that were somehow living, in all appearance they were dead but somehow living at the same time. She found what looked like fish gills on some of the plants, especially on those in watery areas that seemed to be inhaling oxygen this way."   
  
"You're saying that plain plants are breathing air with fish gills?" Kome asked kind of confused.   
  
"Exactly," Matsudaira spoke up, "it seems that these plants have evolved into a higher life form that no longer needs photosynthesis in order to produce what they need in order to survive."   
  
"How are dead plants living, is what I want to know?" Kusanagi wondered.   
  
"Indeed, it is a most difficult thing to imagine."   
  
"Kinda like vampires." Momiji commented, which made all of them look at her.   
  
"Vampires?" Yaegashi pondered, "What is a way to think of them as, wouldn't it?"   
  
"Mom," came Yoshifumi's concerned voice as he ran into the living room with the communicator, "a monster is in Meadow Wood."   
  
All of them stood as Yoshifumi bit his lip, orders given out to what was to be done, then Ryoko noticed that Fumi was still standing there.   
  
"Something up, Fumi?"   
  
"I told her I wouldn't say but she is in trouble," Fumi looked to Momiji and Kusanagi, "Kimiko's at the lake where Keizo says the monster is."   
  
In that instant all the adults disappeared into cars and were driving to Meadow Wood.   
  
~ ~   
  
A high pitched scream echoed the lake behind the housing complex of Meadow Wood as four young girls stood in the shadow of a creature emerging from the water depths of the lake that they had recently been playing in.   
  
Kimiko had fingers clenching her arm belonging to Brittany as they stared at the creature. The long hair with the entire body seeming to belong to different types of animals with a body of tortoise, scaly limbs like a snake with a face of an ape sitting on what looked like a cucumber. Again came piercing screams as the four girls screamed for their lives.   
  
~ ~ ~ ~   
  
Another Chapter. Getting any better? Let me know. The next chapter should be out in a couple of days.   
  
~ Scandal ~   
November 5, 2001


	4. The Mother

Mitamas: After The End   
Chapter 3: The Mother   
  
Written by: Scandalous Behavior   
  
~ ~ ~ ~   
  
As soon as Shanna pulled her white VW Bug into the small black top of a basketball court, the nearest place to park both she and Masuki were out of the car and running. The woods weren't that dense but they were far enough away that it took them a little bit to see the lake.   
  
Branches and small underbrush grabbed at her white jean clad legs, her outdoor boots making easy of the terrain that would have killed her if she was still in the slip on shoes that were part of her High School uniform. Feeling every presence of the trees, the animals, all the life force seemed to call out to her. In the back of her mind she knew that Masuki was already there, his power of his own body so much greater than her own. To hear again the blood curling screams of frightened ten and eleven year old girls only made her legs move faster until she came out onto the bank of the lake, face to face with the monster.   
  
Shanna saw that Masuki had already gotten the girls to run back through the forest away from the monster that had Kimiko in its hand. Coming to stand next to him, Shanna thought to all the writings she knew of and then it clicked as she again saw the drawn picture and description of this exact monster on file at the TAC.   
  
"It's Kappa. It sucks the blood out of living things." Shanna explained.   
  
"Well, it won't for long," Masuki announced and leapt into the air, his leather jacket forgotten on the lake's bank as out of his arms came what looked like a sword-thorn shaped object made of his own flesh yet hard like a sword blade.   
  
With two swipes at the monster he had cut the hand that held his sister off and jumped to catch her in his arms, then onto the bank to lay her next to Shanna. Out of no where the arm seemed to come alive by itself and clawed into Masuki's shoulder, causing reddish green blood to spray and pull him under the lake's surface. Kneeling by Kimiko's side, Shanna touched her forehead.   
  
Out of the corner of Shanna's eye she could see a moment and saw the profile of Mamoru Kusanagi in mid air fighting with Kappa, his own arm blades cutting at the beast only to have the wounds inflicted heal up as soon as the blade made a cut. As if Kusanagi was an annoying pest the beast backhanded the older man and Momiji screamed her husband's name. Moving at the last minute to keep himself from being hurled onto the lake's bank, he made another swipe at the arm that held his son underwater. The arm pressure gone from his back Masuki swam to the surface and inhaled air.   
  
The cavalry having shown up, Kome grabbed two big bazooka cannons, handing one to Yaegashi they fired at the beast distracting it from Kusanagi and Masuki, both now on the edge of the lake near Momiji and Kimiko. Ryoko was speaking rapidly into a walkie-talkie when out of the darkened forest came Sugishita with a blonde that needless to say everyone was surprised to see. Holding a spell up to her face she repeated words and threw the incantation at the beast causing vines to bind it together as it struggled it let out a piercing sound that was shattering the glass in the nearby houses as well as causing all the people to grab their ears.   
  
"What are you waiting for?! Do something!" came the impatient voice of the woman beside Shanna.   
  
Closing her eyes, stepping into the lake, she held out her hands words flowing from her lips as a great blue light centered itself between her palms and as she felt the creature approach, having released himself from the vines, she pulled back the blue ball of light to her chest, repeating the ancient words in her mind and then as it stood to it's height of twenty feet she threw it at the creature, ripping it into the center of the body as it collapsed back into the water. The wave of water that moved at the creature's collapsed flowed over the four sides of the lake and as the head of the creature remained, where Masuki sensed the mitama was, he leapt towards it and with a swift cut removed the creature's head causing the mitama of a yellowish hue to break into tiny pieces and vanish. The creature's body became water mixing with the remaining water of the lake.   
  
Shanna collapsed onto the bank, with Keizo and Ryoko coming to see if she was all right. Both looked a little surprised when Shanna's eyes were pure white and at a blink returned to its normal color. Keizo held her lightly as her body was in pain from the power she created from it, and when she finally got the strength to stand up, Masuki already being treated for his shoulder wound and Momiji fussing over her husband and son, keeping Kimiko in sight, Shanna turned to her father.   
  
"What is she doing here?" Shanna demanded, looking at the well-dressed petite woman.   
  
"Shanna, sweetheart.." Shunichi started, as the woman cleared her throat.   
  
Shanna's eyes moved to the woman, whose own hand tossed the blonde hair over her shoulder, before returning the young girl's glaze.   
  
"What a greeting, kiddo," Sakura Yamazaki proclaimed in a cheerful voice, "after having not seen each other in so long."   
  
This was getting everyone's attention as Shunichi moved his feet unable to do much between the two.   
  
"Not long enough, Mother."   
  
~ ~   
  
Kusanagi sat in the living room of his house watching the girl he knew he would protect with his life as he would his wife and own children stare out the window into the backyard her green sweater arms wrapped around herself. She hadn't said a word since saying that to Sakura, confirming what he had thought for years to who the girl's mother was. He didn't blame her for not telling them, he hadn't ever thought that Cherry Blossom would ruin her figure and have a child and it shocked all of them who knew Sakura.   
  
Masuki was in his room, made to stay there by the will of Momiji, and Kimiko was in trouble but mostly Momiji was just glad neither one was too hurt. In the den were Shunichi and Sakura with Momiji, Daitetsu, Ryoko, Kome, Yaegashi, and Matsudaira. Keizo was keeping Masuki company upstairs now and Toyoharu had just left.   
  
"Are you going to say something?" Kusanagi wondered, "or is the silent treatment something I need to get used to?"   
  
A small smile crossed her lips and he was at an angle that he could see it. A vent that rested next to the chair Kusanagi sat in, which led conveniently up to Masuki's room where the two males were avidly listening after having heard Toyoharu leave, something that Keizo noticed had lessoned the tension in Masuki's body, had both their undivided attention at this point.   
  
"I would think a little silence would be heaven to you about now," Shanna thought out loud.   
  
"Sometimes, but others when people seem to need to take a load off it doesn't seem to hold that same kind of magic."   
  
"You guys never asked about my mother, I thought for a while my Dad would have told you and then remembered that Sakura wasn't exactly a favorite in this household," Shanna's face was turned so he could see her grin that matched his own, "with her being so rival like with Momiji and being a bother to you. I could respect that, even envy it. At least you had a clear reason for her acting the way she does around you guys. I never understood Sakura, one of the reasons it's hard for me to call her Mother."   
  
"She's not exactly the easiest person to get along with." Kusanagi stated.   
  
"And it's even worse when you're her daughter. Especially one that has more power in her finger than the entire accomplished Faith Healer can ever imagine. It doesn't exactly lead to harmony in the home, especially between me and my sisters," Kusanagi looked surprised, "and that proves my point. No one knew I even had sisters, or that I even talk to them as much as I do. They both understood but still got upset at me because I didn't get along with Sakura like them and because Sakura never really accepted me. I was born second, so in Sakura's eyes I was supposed to be second best. To compete with my beautiful older sister or talented younger one not to be the center of attention from the time I lit my curtains on fire at age two just by touching them. Not to compete with my mother," Shanna turned to face Kusanagi, her back leaning against the sliding glass door, "I think that kinda made her think of Momiji. Always competing with her for attention and for you."   
  
Kusanagi lifted an eyebrow but let her continue.   
  
"You knew Sakura had the feelings for you, for a while anyway. Until she realized that she could never get you away from Momiji," Shanna gave a little laugh, "it's kind of hard to compete with destiny and with a girl who could make a guy give up his own life just to have her live again. Dad always told me that story when you all saved Japan and in the look that would come over her, I knew it bothered her. To have someone love you that much. Oh, I knew she loved my sisters and me but deep inside I think apart of her hated me. Dad must have seen it and that was why he filed full custody of me. Until then he was a pop-in and pop-out dad. My sisters have the same father but I think I was some sort of unplanned result of their affair, which is why my stepfather never cared for me either. He wasn't mean but he had a way of making me feel removed from what he considered 'his family'. So when Dad finally moved me here I decided with him not to mention her. She wasn't apart of my life anymore until she showed up here."   
  
Having been so into what she was saying neither her nor Kusanagi heard the den door open and a pained Sakura stood there looking at her daughter as if she just hit her.   
  
"Oh, Shanna, you don't honestly think that, do you?"   
  
Looking to her mother, Shanna couldn't help the tears that entered her eyes.   
  
"What was I supposed to think, Mother? That I was just like my sisters, that you loved me just as much when not once did you do anything to make it seem like I was anything but a burden. That I was something not planned and un-wanted by anyone but Dad. It hurt worse when I saw you look at me after they did all those tests on why I could start fires and do other things with elements that I was a rival, someone to be jealous of when I didn't ask for these powers. For people to try to kill me from day one," Shanna's eyes were filled with tears now, "do you think it would have been better if you just aborted me from the start like you wanted to?"   
  
Even Momiji gasped at that. Wishing them all away, she ran out of the room, up the stairs and the sound of her bedroom door slamming shut echoed down to the adults.   
  
~ ~   
  
Keizo and Masuki pulled their heads back from the vent, equally shocked looks on their faces at what Shanna had said. Masuki ran a hand through his hair absentmindedly and Keizo let out a breath he didn't even realize he was holding. They sat on Masuki's bed and glanced to each other.   
  
"Well, that was intense." Keizo stated.   
  
"Hard to believe that her mother would make Shanna feel like that," Masuki spoke softly, "and I always thought her mother had died and that's why she didn't talk about her."   
  
"I've been around her a lot longer than you have and I have never heard Shanna say anything remotely like that. Being around your family must have been a real eye opener to what a real family acts like from what she went through."   
  
"To think I was jealous of her," Masuki said and Keizo grinned, "hey, she was getting all my mom's attention for a while and then I come back to see that she was being the perfect child that I wasn't."   
  
"No one was replacing you, Masuki. After the hell she had gone through it was natural that your mother, being so open and kind to everyone, would feel that Shanna needed her."   
  
"And I take my parents for granted."   
  
"Doesn't everyone?"   
  
They just sat there wondering how anyone could think that Shanna wasn't good enough.   
  
~ ~   
  
The instant the bedroom door of Shanna's room had slammed shut, Kusanagi stood and caught Sakura's arm in order to keep her from heading up there.   
  
"Don't you think you've done enough, Cherry Blossom?" Kusanagi asked coldly.   
  
"Let go of me, Carrot Boy. That's my daughter." Sakura demanded, jerking her arm to get out of his grasp but to no avail.   
  
"She might be born of your blood, Sakura, but she is ours my choice." Kusanagi informed her before tossing her arm away.   
  
"Shanna never even told me that she felt that way." Sugishita spoke up, causing Sakura to glare at him.   
  
"We should let her rest for a while, she's been through a lot today." Momiji stated.   
  
"Do what you want but I want to see my daughter."   
  
Momiji moved and blocked Sakura from going upstairs.   
  
"You are NOT going upstairs, Sakura," Momiji explained, her whole body spoke of her determination, "she doesn't need to see you least of all right now."   
  
"She's my daughter, not yours Momiji."   
  
"How convenient for you to remember that now." Kome muttered.   
  
"Look, I'll be in town for a couple of days. I will be back tomorrow to speak to Shanna."   
  
Sakura turned on her four-inch heel and stocked out of the house. Ryoko watched pain flicker in Shunichi's eyes.   
  
"Shanna never said a word about Sakura treating her like that and I left her there." He whispered astonished that he didn't know about it.   
  
"Shanna's a tough kid to understand at times and I'm sure she doesn't blame you for it. Probably she just wanted to forget it all and move on, that took a lot of courage for someone so young. You should be proud of her. Shanna's a remarkable young woman." Ryoko comforted.   
  
"I suggest that we talk about this later," Daitetsu stepped in with.   
  
"Right. Although," Matsudaira added, "if it would be alright with you both I want to bring Shanna in to see about her level tomorrow. She collapsed and maybe it has to do with her power," seeing Kusanagi's warning look, "When she wants to, of course."   
  
"Thanks, Azusa. I'll talk to her in the morning," Momiji told them glancing towards the stairs, "I doubt she'll want to talk to anyone tonight."   
  
"Okay."   
  
The group started to leave, Sugishita stopped in the front doorway.   
  
"Thank you both for taking such good care of her," he said quietly, "I doubted she would be half as accomplished if she didn't have you both helping her."   
  
"We love her, too, Shunichi." Momiji told him and he smiled saying goodnight.   
  
As soon as the door closed, Kusanagi looked at her exhausted face.   
  
"Some night, huh?"   
  
"I knew Sakura could be horrible at times," Momiji put her arms around her husband, "but I had no idea she could make her own daughter feel like an outsider."   
  
"Come on, Momiji, let's go upstairs."   
  
Passing by Shanna's door, Kusanagi knocked and then opened Masuki's. Seeing Keizo smile lightly at him but Masuki's expression remained emotionless.   
  
"I know you both heard," he stated as Momiji kissed his cheek and headed to check on Kimiko, "so if either of you feel up to seeing if she wants to talk, I don't think having one of us talk to her."   
  
"Sure, Mr. Kusanagi." Keizo offered.   
  
Nodding, he closed the door. Keizo lifted an eyebrow at his friend.   
  
"You want to talk to her?"   
  
Masuki gave him a 'Are you kidding me' look.   
  
"Alright, I'll go talk to her. But you better be ready to say something to her come morning and I don't mean about her not going any where without someone."   
  
"Well, at least I know she can protect herself."   
  
Keizo smiled and left Masuki's room, walking the ten steps to knock on the white door of Shanna's room.   
  
"Shanna, it's Keizo."   
  
A muffled, "Come in." made him open the door and see her curled up on her bed, hugging a pillow to her chest. Her eyes red from crying and he gave a sad smile, as he closed the door after him. Sitting on the bed, he brushed part of her loose hair from her face.   
  
"I feel like such an idiot. Telling it like that. Everyone probably feels sorry for me know."   
  
Keizo shook his head, his brown eyes meeting her blue ones.   
  
"No, Shanna. We don't feel sorry for you. We feel sorry for what you had to go through because your mother didn't understand you. Mainly the adults are pissed at your mom."   
  
"Hey, well." She sat up and touched her head, "Man, do I have a head ache."   
  
"Fighting a monster and then dealing with your mom, I'm sure you do."   
  
Shanna sighed and a small tear made its way down her cheek, "I didn't think I'd see her again."   
  
"I know you didn't."   
  
Shanna felt more tears fall down her cheeks and he hugged her to him, as she cried into his shoulder. Over his shoulder, the door was halfway open and Masuki stood there watching.   
  
~ ~   
  
Akihiro had been there when Kappa attacked. He watched every play by play with avid interest and then to see an amount of power come from Shanna, caused a great deal of esteem to rise in him for her. The girl could hold her own, and it had seemed that Masuki wasn't the weakling that he once was. It was going to prove interesting. Although he didn't get the Kushinada, something he really wasn't aiming at just yet, it was a very entertaining night.   
  
Just wait, he thought, until Masuki sees the one person that even he won't be able to fight without guilt. How intriguing things were about to get.   
  
~ ~   
  
After Keizo had left for home, Shanna had changed into her pajamas and settled under the covers of her bed. All cried out, she laid there and when her eyelids felt like they could stay open for one more second, they closed. Her sleep troubled, that it went unnoticed that on her right hand a white light had begun to glow in the outline of a mitama before she fit fully turned over on her stomach, the glow fading.   
  
~ ~ ~ ~   
  
Well, about time we find out who her mother was, huh? More to come.   
  
~ Scandal ~   
November 6, 2001 


End file.
